Thursday, May 18, 2017

I have
given it a great deal of thought and decided to start a new blog. I dearly love
this old one; I’ve had it since 2008. But I feel I have outgrown it and its
time to have something a bit more professional. I have no intention of closing
this old blog down, but I don’t plan to update this one any more. If you want to hear more about my literary journey, my new blog is where you'll find me.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

I have published a short story entitled, "The Sweetest Thing," at the online magazine, Page & Spine. So if you like romance or chocolate, or sweet uncomplicated stories, please check it out. Thank you!

Friday, April 21, 2017

I
recently watched the new Masterpiece Theater Drama “To Walk Invisible,” which
features the story of the Bronte family. The only Bronte that I ever liked was
Anne Bronte, who wrote “Agnes Grey” and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.” But I loved
the idea of a movie depicting the lives of three literary sisters in Victorian
England. I love movies about women writers.

I
loved it. It’s very gritty; don’t expect something pristine or wholesome. This
is not Jane Austen or one of her comedy of manners. While the stars of the
Bronte sisters rose, the star of Branwell Bronte – their ne’er do well brother
– fell. He became addicted to alcohol and possibly drugs; the movie shows how
he spiraled out of control and how it affected the lives of his three sisters
and his elderly father. “To Walk Invisible” also implied that the Bronte
sisters incorporated their brother and his troubles into their works, “Jane
Eyre,” “Wuthering Heights,” and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.” Though the
Bronte sisters achieved success, it was short-lived. The three sisters died
before their time, and their father outlived them all, and faced having to bury
his children.

Unlike
“Becoming Jane” and “Miss Austen Regrets” (biopics on Jane Austen) there are no
manufactured romances in “To Walk Invisible.” This is simply a story of three
women who are determined to pursue happiness no matter what obstacles lie in
their path. The world was against them: society frowned on women who earned a
living; Christians condemned their books; they had to use male pseudonyms to be
taken seriously and then a rumor started that “Currer Bell” (Charlotte Bronte)
was really the author of all of their novels. But they persevered.

I
read “Jane Eyre” a lifetime ago and didn’t like it. I always considered myself
a Jane Austen girl. But lately I recently re-read it and fell in love with this
passionate book. So, I am going to give “Wuthering Heights” a try and see where
that leads.

Friday, April 7, 2017

The
movie, “The Zookeeper’s Wife” has finally been released in theaters. I am
ecstatic! I have been waiting at least two years for this movie to debut. It is
the story of Antonina and Jan Zabinski who managed the Warsaw Zoo and during
WWII, they saved approximately 300 Jews from genocide. They were later honored
by the Yad Vashem and considered the Righteous Among the Nations.

Those
who rescued Jews were an interesting breed of people. No two were exactly
alike; their motives for risking their lives and the lives of their families
varied.

Some were like Corrie ten Boom and believed that the Jewish were God’s chosen people and had to be spared.

Others were like Oskar Schindler, who never
set out to save Jews, yet he fell in love with his Jewish workers. "I knew
the people who worked for me. When you know people, you have to behave towards
them like human beings." Schindler said, when asked why he did what he
did. Though not a “good” man by the standards of most, when others looked away,
Schindler helped.

Leopold
Socha, a former thief turned sewer worker, stumbled upon several Jewish people hiding
in the sewers of Lvov. He promised to help them for a price, and then
influenced by his Catholic faith and the friendship that developed, he
continued to hide them when they could no longer afford to pay him. After the
war, he died saving his own daughter’s life and the ones he hid returned to
honor his memory.

Miep
Gies knew the Frank and van Pels families and Fritz Pfeffer personally and
insisted that she never did anything heroic. She simply did what many other
Dutch countrymen and women did. That she saved Anne Frank’s diary was by sheer
happenstance.

Stefania Podgorska also knew two of the thirteen people she
rescued, and after the war she married one of them.

Irena
Sendler’s father had been a physician and died treating poor Jewish people who
had typhus. He had always taught her that, “If you see a man drowning, you must
jump in and save him, even if you cannot swim.” That belief led her to become a
social worker and then become involved with Zegota; in turn she and numerous
others saved 2500 lives.

The
rescuers were simply ordinary people who were given the chance to do the right
thing. That was the one thing they all had in common.

I’m
going to end this post with one of my favorite prayers: “Lord,
make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is
despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.”

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

I’m
sure some of you have seen this meme bouncing around the internet. And it’s true:
writing is hard. But publication is harder.

I’ve
recently had another story accepted for publication. I was on the verge of
tearing my hair out, fretting that I would never be published again. You never
know, really. Writing/Publishing is a subjective business. What works for one
magazine or publication won’t work for another. I’ve had editors tell me that
they really liked and enjoyed my stories, but that they just didn’t cut the
mustard. They loved it, but they weren’t “in love” with it. It’s not personal;
it’s never personal. Yet we always take it personally.

I
should know by now that there is no exact time frame for submission to
acceptance/publication. My latest story was written back in September of 2016
and was only accepted in March of 2017. I had to do a revision on it too.
Though it was good, it needed polishing. Many stories do. Take it as a sign of
encouragement if an editor responds and asks you for a rewrite. They are
investing their time in you and giving you a second chance. It’s a complement,
really.

One
story I wrote, “Saving Grace” was originally written way back in 2013 and
didn’t appear in print until 2015. That’s two years.

“A
Grave Discovery,” my little murder mystery, had been written in October of 2015
and was accepted by New Zenith Magazine in June 2016. Eight months and I was
just about to throw in the towel. Sadly, that magazine has since ceased
publication. (I am determined to get this one published again though.)

“An
Agoraphobic in Europe,” was written in September of 2015 and wasn’t published
until over a year later.

Another
interesting fact: 90% of what I write, I write with one publication in mind.
However, rarely does that publication ever accept or publish what I have
written. I can’t tell you how many times I have submitted stories to
Guideposts, Highlights, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Reader’s Digest, only to
have my stories accepted elsewhere.

Manic
obsession and perseverance is the only real advice I can give about writing or
publication. You receive twenty rejections for a story, submit it again.
Submission twenty-one could be it. Don’t take “no” for an answer.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Below
are a number of fun facts about my new WIP that takes place in Poland during
and after WWII.

One
of the main characters is named Lidia. She was named after the tour guide of
the group I was in. This woman was extraordinary; she was a walking
encyclopedia.

Another
character is named Ewa. She was named after Eva Mozes Kor; she was a Mengele
Twin, she survived the war and started the C.A.N.D.L.E.S. Museum. Eva is a
remarkable woman, who has publically forgiven the Nazis and encourages others
to forgive, as a way of sowing seeds of peace.

The
C.A.N.D.L.E.S. Museum hosts an annual tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Krakow. I
went on their 2015 tour, because it had been a dream of mine and I was doing
research for my WIP.

Image made by my sister, Seanna Acey

The
WIP is tentatively titled, “The Judgement of Solomon.” It was inspired by the
passage in the Bible: 1 Kings 3:16-28. Two women approach King Solomon, each
claiming that a boy as their own. King Solomon offers to cut the child into two
that way they will each have him. The real mother backs off, hoping that the
boy will be spared. This is a running theme in my story.

My
WIP primarily takes place in Krakow. Although they are not featured in my
story, historical people such as Oskar Schindler, Amon Goethe, Dr. Mengele,
Cardinal Hlond, Hans Frank are mentioned.

Some
of the places shown in the story are St. Mary’s Basilica, Main Market Square,
Podgorze Ghetto, Wawel Castle, Gestapo Headquarters, Kazimierz District, and
Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The
story spans from 1941 to 1946.

The
first draft took nearly four months to write. And then when I revised it, I had
to rewrite a lot of Part Three.